BOTBs - Panasonic Lumix GH1

The Lumix GH1 was not my first digital camera - that accolade belongs to the Olympus_µ700 point and shoot. Nor was it my first camera bought because I'd got into photography proper, which was the Panasonic Lumix FZ50 bridge camera. And neither was it a camera bought through in-depth study and knowledge of the technical aspects of photography. What it was, though, was my first interchangeable lens camera.

Panasonic Lumix GH1
February 2010 to October 2012
~9000 shots

Why did I buy the GH1? Why not go for a DSLR from one of the established and ubiquitous firms such as Canon or Nikon? The answer to both those question lay firmly at the feet of Panasonic's graphical user interface.

My experience with the FZ50 had shown me how easy it was to navigate and find what you were looking for, so I went for more of the same. In addition, I wanted a 10x zoom, just like I had with my FZ50 - the superzoom range on that had made it the perfect travel camera for my trip to China in 2008. The chap I spoke to at Park Cameras informed be that the Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm F4-5.8 OIS lens that came as a kit lens with the Lumix GH1 was a 10x zoom, and like that, I was sold.

A friend of mine was, at the time, toting around a Canon 5D MkII, and I instantly became aware at just how small the GH1 was to other cameras. Smaller, yet no less capable of producing a compelling image. For it was during my ownership of the GH1 where I joined a local camera club, and many of the photos below were submitted to (and did quite well in) competitions.

So without further ado, here are my hand-picked Top Ten GH1 Shots:

Venice	Tokyo

Tokyo	Osaka

London	Kelvedon Hatch

Findon	Dover

Dover	London

Back to Best of the bodies.

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BOTBs - Panasonic Lumix GH3

Panasonic had realised with the GH1 and GH2 just how much demand there was for high-quality, low-cost mirrorless cameras capable of brilliant video capture. And it was with the 2013-released GH3 that they responded to many of the demands that users had asked for. Panasonic Lumix GH3 January 2014 to December 2016 22500 shots Gone was the multi aspect Panasonic sensor, replaced with a 16 megapixel unit from Sony - the same, it transpires, as used in Olympus's at-the-time recently released OM-D E-M5 . This was a more capable sensor than the one used in the previous model, which helped with better noise handling at higher ISOs and higher-bit-rate video. Gone too was the compact body. Now, the GH3 was a chunkier magnesium alloy affair, and now weather-sealed. It was a huge improvement ergonomically over the GH2 - after shooting airshows for many hours with the GH2, my hand ached, mainly because there wasn't enough room around the handgrip for all fingers. This was no longer th...

A dark night, and a brace of Voigtlanders

I fell in love with the Voigtlander f/0.95 17.5mm prime as soon as I mounted it on my GH4 a few years back. It properly sprang to life once I moved over to the Lumix G9 - the higher-resolution viewfinder made it much, much easier to check focus, and I feel that the sensor was able to benefit from the lens more than the GH4's was. Due to coronavirus in the UK, I've left the area where I live on very few occasions. I am lucky in that I have the South Downs to the north, and the English Channel to the south - and both are only a five minute walk away for me. Despite coronavirus, I've ensured that I've kept my Photo 52 challenge up to date. This forces me to get out with my camera so that I at least have one image, no matter how rubbish it is, to show for my week. As the nights have grown longer, the Voigtlander 17.5mm and its 42.5mm brother have both joined me on my evening walks, so I thought I'd show you a few shots I grabbed the other evening whilst traipsing ...

Shooting the Clematis

In a prior post, I mentioned trying to find the perfect lens for flower photography . And how I was going to do some tests with the lenses mentioned within said post. Well, this isn't that test. It's another test. A test with very similar focal-length lenses, and with similar apertures. This is the Battle of the 50mm or Thereabouts Lenses for Photographing Clematis ! What are the contenders in today's test? Well, we have a trio of legacy 50mm lenses from a variety of mounts. And also an auto-focus lens specifically designed for Micro Four Thirds. Jupiter-8 f/2 50mm - m39-mount Helios-44 f/1.8 50mm - m42-mount Voigtlander Color-Ultron f/1.8 50mm - Q-mount Lumix f/1.7 42.5mm - Micro Four Thirds mount All lenses were shot wide-open, and all from the "same" distance from the flower. This distance was calculated based on the closest focusing distance of the lenses with the longest closest focusing distance, the Jupiter-8. Jupiter-8 f/2 50mm Helios-44...

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